Oyo State Governor, ‘Seyi Makinde, on Saturday, assured that the interest and welfare of traders and business owners in the state will always be protected by his administration.
He disclosed that economic policies of his government are always tailored towards creating an enabling socioeconomic atmosphere capable of boosting commerce and activities of traders in various markets in the state.
Makinde gave this assurance during the inauguration of the newly renovated Bola Ige International Market Health Centre, located at Gbagi area, off Ife-Ibadan expressway.
Represented by his Commissioner for Trade, Investment and Commerce, Ademola Ojo, he explained that the state government is committed to creating a viable platform for ease of doing fine business among the small and medium scale entrepreneurs.
He lauded the state consultant in charge of the market, Abduljely Karheem, Mogaji Adanla for his proactive steps towards restoring the lost glory of the market.
Ojo stated: “We have invested so much in developing this state. Governor Makinde’s interest is to develop and move this state forward, we don’t have to start giving him trouble, I don’t like to feed him with any negative reports, that is why we are appointed, we are working with him to ensure we move this state forward.
“We are there to handle issues on his behalf, we are to handle issues that can move our dear state forward, I personally love going to the governor and discuss positive issues that can move our state forward, what is our duties as an appointees if we cannot assist the governor with our wealth of experience to move the state forward?
“For my ministry, this task ahead of us requires your cooperation. We are going to be doing this together, and I’m assuring you that no government agenda will have a negative impact on our traders.
“So, we needed to engage him in some other aspects which the ministry has been working towards before, because our ministry has its own agenda here, which is market development agenda, this one is just part of it, we are still going to see more of it, and I still want to appreciate our elders council, the Babaloja General, and Iyaloja General, and the chairman of Gbagi market, you can see that all of them are excited for this new development that is happening here in this market today.
“Our traders should start paying their taxes and dues as at when due, because if procedure are not in place, things might not be done properly, but with due registration and all the agendas we have now, things will be out in place properly, that’s why Mogaji Adanla is even there, is a revenue consultant, he will make sure there is no issues of double taxation but due taxes will be paid as at when due,” he posited.
In his remark, Adanla said: “Our primary duty as a consultant in this market is to restore the lost glory of the market, as the Governor has rightly said that this is the legacy project, and during my speech minutes ago I said if any of my team believe that he or she is coming here to make money, that person should resign now, because this is not a matter of let me grab what I can grab in Gbagi market, this is about bringing the market to the international standard.”
“This market is called Bola Ige International market, a market without adequate facilities cannot be tagged as an international market, so what we are doing is to bring it back to international standard and that’s why we start with heath centre,” Adanla remarked.
In her address, the coordinator of the health centre, Mrs Felicia oluwatoyin, hinted that “this health facility is witnessing a big turn around today and I want all traders to make use of this facility.”
She also harped on the need by the government to recruit more health practitioners that will be attending to traders in the newly renovated health centre.
The Babaloja-General of Oyo State, Alhaji Yekini Abass also lauded Makinde for appointing the eligible person as the consultant for the market, noting that Adanla is indeed a round leg in a round hole for the growth of Bola Ige International Market.
